SnC 025 – Wed 2 Aug 2006

A thoroughly eclectic mix this week even though the music is from the USA and the UK. This show produced by Artois (pictured).Intro: Happy – Jimmie Bratcher (Missouri, USA)http://www.jimmiebratcher.com/Close calls – Miranda Sound (Ohio)
Album: Western Reserve (buy on band site)
Billy Peake and Dan Gerken do little to dismiss the notion that the
best art is made under conditions of duress. It’s a cliche for a
reason, as countless musicians have found inspiration in the physical
and emotional threshing of their lives.
Miranda Sound’s third album in four years benefits from its
straight-ahead songwriting and production, the latter courtesy of
post-punk icon and in-demand producer J. Robbins (Jawbox, Burning
Airlines). After road-testing the songs for months, the band went into
the studio and busted out "Western Reserve" in a week.
Sat Aug 05 – McMenamy’s – All ages – $5 in Advance, $8 at door – 6pm
Fri Aug 11 – Oldfield’s on High w/ Eric Metronome, Hero Pattern & Barn Burning
Sat Aug 12 – Birdy’s Midwest Music Summit w/ Lost Anthem, Other
Passengers, Peter Adams, Bel Auburn, Hero Pattern, Loretta &
Shadeland – We Play at 9:15pm sharp
Fri Aug 18 – Little Brothers w/ Aloha & Rahim
Sat Aug 26 – The Basement – The Whiles & The Receiver
Fri Sep 22 – The Poison Room – Toxic Festival $5/$7 – 18+

www.mirandasound.com

Who will you really become? – ANEMO (Brighton, UK )
ANEMO (which means "changing forms") was formed in summer 2001 in
Brighton, England. The ANEMO core is the songwriting partnership of
vocalist Hazelle Woodhurst (a former actress who appeared in such major
movies as "Shakespeare in Love" and "Eyes Wide Shut") and keyboard
player and producer Kingsley Sage (formerly of the UK band Jumbo and
sometime producer for Icelandic indie-hipsters Bellatrix). This core is
then supported by the remarkable Matt Palmer on guitar.
New single releases on 4th September in the UK
Aug 3 2006 9:15 Hope and Anchor London
Aug 9 2006 8:30 The Troubadour London
Aug 13 2006 7:30 "Strawberry Jam", part of the Exmouth Festival Exmouth, Devon
Aug 14 2006 8:00 Three Fat Fish Exeter
Aug 16 2006 10:00 The Hobbit Southampton
Aug 18 2006 8:00 Jericho Tavern Oxford
Aug 29 2006 9:00 Joogleberry Playhouse Brighton
Sep 7 2006 9:00 Sandinista Leeds
Sep 8 2006 8:00 The Talking Heads Southampton

www.anemo.co.uk/
www.citycanyons.com/anemo

NEWS
Green labels
Yesterday, Sub Pop Records became the first record label in the world
to "go green" [see update below] by reducing its effective CO2 output
to zero. This would be technically impossible, even if they went 100%
digital in their sales, without an organization called the Bonneville
Environmental Foundation, which lets people or companies buy "green
tags," – vouchers that help subsidize the use of renewable energy,
which is generally more expensive to produce than dirtier sources.
Purchasers of green tags still power everything in their homes or
businesses using the same old sources, but by purchasing these green
tags, they’re able to offset their CO2 production by introducing more
renewable energy into the energy pool through their subsidy.
It’s also worth pointing out that the first album featuring the Green-e logo is Kelley Stoltz’s Below the Branches.

https://www.subpop.com/index.php

The memory collector – Kelley Stoltz
San Francisco home-recording multi-instrumentalist Kelley Stoltz spent
the better part of the past three years promoting and distributing his
last album himself. "I finished Antique Glow in 2001, but found myself
without a label when it was ready for release. So, being a vinyl nut, I
decided to press up a couple hundred and, to save some money, painted
all the covers myself. I sold them at shows and stores all around San
Francisco. After that the record took on a life of its own." And, this
life of its own involved an eventual domestic CD release on San
Francisco’s Jackpine Social Club, as well as considerable UK press
attention.
Antique Glow garnered a 4-star review and a "Mojo Rising" feature in
MOJO magazine, as well as critical praise in Ptolemaic Terrascope,
Uncut, Record Collector and on BBC6 radio. At year’s end Antique Glow
was ranked #24 in MOJO’s "40 Best Albums of 2004," described as, "a
time capsule only recently discovered … a jamboree grab-bag of delights
filled with everything from psychedelic folk and cosmic troubadour pop
to garage-rock and lysergic r&b … one of the year’s major finds."
Kelley’s new album, Below the Branches, picks up where Antique Glow
left off, combining psych rock, folk, blues and pop in its 13 tracks,
exploring new, piano-driven directions as well. It’s an album of
improvisational pop, alchemically blending influences with results that
are both timeless and new. Kelley and his band (Sean Coleman, Kevin
Ink, Shayde Sartin, and John Hofer) will tour extensively with the
release of Below the Branches.

https://www.subpop.com/scripts/main/bands

ON THE ROAD
The Band from County Hell
Performing at at the Heckington Show, Lincolnshire
Julie McLelland & The Band From County Hell are one of the most
exciting Celtic rock bands on the circuit today. Set up twelve years
ago this band with Glasgow/Irish roots are writing and performing the
Celtic folk rock songs of today.
They have released five original albums, sold songs to football teams
and film makers, and play in theatres, arts centres and festivals up
and down the country.
Tunes played:
Little bit of Land and Happy Birthday from the most recent album Ghosts & Spirits
The band line-up varies from time to time but generally includes:
Steve McLelland Vocals, guitars, banjo, harmonica, songwriter.
Julie McLelland Lead vocals, bodhran, song writer.
Mad Dawg John Dowd Percussion.
Kenbar Furey Whistles.
Phil Harris Bass guitars, mandolin.
Bruce Brealey Brass section: Trumpet, trombone, saxophone.
Ben McLelland Electric violin, whistles, accordion, piano.
Maurice Mulligan Electric bass, double bass, mandolin, acoustic guitar, ‘Keef’ guitar, flute, keyboards.
George Morton Trumpet, guitar, accordion.

Occams Razor – Justice on a Budget (Pennsylvania)
Justice on a Budget began as an informal collection of musicians who
gathered to improvise over loose structures and soundscapes, with all
preconceptions left behind. The players developed a relationship that
allows them to express a shared sonic vision with a wide-open approach
to the creation of new music.
The web link looks interesting but no mention of Justice on a Budget, that I could find.
http://ncmeast.com

See right through – Rasa 9 (Los Angeles, California)
Rasa 9 is a rock/alt. band that touches all emotions, comprising Joe
Tamel (bass), Stefan Hajek (vocals), Christian Lundberg (guitars),
Clayton Powell (drums, piano). Their full-length CD "The Breeding
Ground" will be available in September.
Rasa 9 began as an idea between two musicians. The production team of
Swedish-born Christian Lundberg (guitar), and Chicago native Joe Tamel
(bass) honed their chops within the Los Angeles music scene through
their individual band projects and then somehow stumbled upon a sound
that truly fed their desires in music. After recording a volume of
instrumental tracks and auditioning multiple singers that just did not
mesh with the overall vision of the sound, fate stepped in as vocalist
Stefan Hajek arrived on the west coast from the complete opposite end
of the country. A child of the Southeast band scene, Stefan stepped in
with the voice and completed the sound that Rasa 9 was longing to
achieve.
The title of the album is going to be The Breeding Ground, and will
contain eleven tracks from the band. The mixing phase is almost
complete, and then the band will concentrate solely on the development
of the live show while the supporting powers that be begin pushing it
out onto the street. The release party and live debut will be in
mid-to-late September.
stefan sings : christian wails : joe thumps : clayton beats.

http://myspace.com/rasa9

Sorry it was rather a long show this week, the OK to play The Memory
Collector came through just as I as completed the show – and the
temptation to be topical was just too much!